Steering Problems of Chrysler Pacifica - part 1

At slow speeds while turning, the steering column shudders and vibrates. At higher speeds the steering seems to get tight and needs to be forced back in to the correct direction. This has been occurring for approximately 6 months. My car is out of warranty. It could become a dangerous situation.

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It malfunctioned on October 25th, it started working briefly the same day, but ultimately quite again until we reset it in the early evening. Reset being disconnecting the battery for an hour then reconnecting. After that, it worked fine the next day, throughout the drive home, and all week until it quit yesterday, Nov 2, 2025. It hasn’t worked since, even after a reset since yesterday mov. 2, 2025. When making a hard left turn, the steering wheel system stopped completely!!! this caused it to be extremely hard to steer the car and it steered the van towards traffic!!! if my wife had been driving, we would have been involved in a major traffic accident! no steering at all, who designs a steering system that has the possibility of, when failing, puts the vehicle & passengers at risk of serious injury or death!!!.

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Power steering impaired while going about 35-40 mph around gentle curves. Carplay will no longer work with the usb port wired to phone.

When taking turns the steering "sticks" amd it takes extra physical force to "unstick" the car. While unsticking by turning the steering wheel harder than normal, it either crosses into uncoming traffic or runs off the shoulder. It unsticks but with the extra physical force, it generally causes you to over correct and/or swerve/veer all over the roadway. 2018 with 72k miles.

Steering has been sticking when making turns.

When making long sweeping turns, like highway off ramps, the steering wheel will stick. The driver has jerk the wheel back towards center to get the wheel to turn again. We have owned the car since new. We have expirenced the problem between 15-20 times. The issue seems to come in waves. We will expirence it a few times in a short time then it wont happen agian for an extended period.

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Have noticed intermittent sticking sensation when driving. No particular direction. Just sometimes happens going around curves. Have to perk steering wheel in opposite direction to free up.

Pe25009 - my van has a fault in alignment with this investigation. On long turns with the wheel between 11 and 1 the steering feels heavy then it feels like the system overcorrects. It has done this intermittently for a few months now.

The contact owns a 2017 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated while driving 35 mph and turning the steering wheel to the left or the right, the steering wheel became difficult to maneuver. The power steering engaged and jerked the wheel to the left or the right of center. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 154,000.

Power steering sticks while making gradual turns in either direction. Most commonly noted on highway entrance/exit ramps, but also slight curves in the road. Some force is needed to return the steering wheel to the correct position which has led to over correction. This is a repeated issue, not an isolated incident.

When driving on the freeway, at around 65-75 mph, and on a gentle right bend, the steering wheel gets stuck. We can move it, but it jerks the car a little. It initially occurred rarely and was not easily reproduced. My dealer could not reproduce it. It is now becoming more common and a nuisance on road trips. It is also getting more stuck, resulting in more significance movements. I nearly left my lane when getting the steering unstuck this past weekend. We are going to see if our dealer can reproduce it.

Steering seems to stick momentarily during turns. Especially on ramps.

Steering sticks especially when going around turns. This is an inconsistent issue, and the car does not self-correct steering as normal and needs to be pulled back to neutral. There are no lights or warnings that this is going to happen. The car has been taken to a dealer who simply drove it around the block and said it is fine. It is not fine and if something happens to my elderly parents driving this car, this will be a much bigger issue. This becomes a higher risk when driving in high traffic areas as there is no warning that the steering is going to change. The safety risk is that the car cannot always be controlled well, and we are afraid this problem will worsen, and a manual override will not be enough. My father has been complaining about this for some time, today I drove them into the city for an appointment, almost 2 hours behind the wheel of this van, and felt first-hand how scary that is to happen when driving. I am happy to have someone come take this car for a drive and get this fixed before someone get hurt.

Absolutely, jenna — here’s a more natural, human-sounding version of your NHTSA report draft: --- vehicle issue report: Chrysler Pacifica I’m reporting ongoing issues with my Chrysler Pacifica that I believe could be safety-related: clunking sound: the vehicle makes a clunking noise when shifting gears. Steering stickiness: the steering doesn’t always respond smoothly — it occasionally sticks when turning. This makes the car go wider than intended during turns and lane changes, which feels unsafe. I’m concerned they may point to a larger mechanical issue and could affect driver control. I’d appreciate it if NHTSA could look into whether this is part of a known defect or something that needs further investigation.

I had the power steering or from their repair journal (68525334-ab gear rack 19075120) replaced at 7062 miles from new as it was making knocking noise from the front of the driver-side. Now at 29,650 miles the exact same noise and sound is coming from the same side. Unfortunately for me it just got out of basic warranty now in may. From their journal customer states there is a clicking noise coming from the fr ont driver side wheel whenever he makes a turn or turns the wheel back and forth when sitting still (tirewheels concern) steering rack has a internal popping noise when turning wheel. Steering rack is making a internal pop noise then turning wheel back and forth. Replace steering rack and set toe.

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Power steering light came on immediately lost the ability to steer vehicle had to be towed in was told it was a battery issue and that was replaced picked the vehicle up the next day. It left me stranded yet again, took it back to the shop and now being told that the five year-old vehicle needs an entire power steering rack not safe to drive.

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The steering on this vehicle has a catching sensation, especially when changing lanes at high speeds, or travelling down a curvy mountain highway. The steering seems to require extra effort to get back to a center position. The problem is most noticeable when making slight turns (such as changing lanes) at higher speeds.

When the wheel gets turned to the right to go around a curve, the steering wheel gets "stuck". The car continues to turn when exiting the turn, and will only return back to center by having to pull hard on the steering wheel.

Over the past two weeks, on three occasions, the steering "stuck" momentarily (for about a second each time) during low-speed small turns at around 15 mph. Once, a "service power steering" message appeared for approximately 2 seconds, then disappeared; we did not see this message again. Yesterday, the steering locked completely when moving the vehicle from a parking space. We were unable to steer at all while trying to move the vehicle forwards or backwards out of the space at about 5 mph. Turning the vehicle off and on again did not resolve the issue. A "steering wheel and exclamation point" warning light appeared on console. Vehicle was towed. Dealer's service department will investigate.

Problem: steering wheel sticking in turns. I own a 2018 Chrysler Pacifica. The issue am facing with my car is that the steering wheel is sticking while trying to turn. This issue seems to be happening to so many Chrysler Pacifica owners.

While driving down the 70 mph interstate my steering went out and I had 5 people in my van. There was no warning or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure. My sister [xxx] and my mother who is [xxx] was stranded on the interstate with traffic speeding by at a high rate of speed. We had the vehicle towed to the dealership and they reported the power steering rack failed and it will cost over $5,000 to repair. I purchased this vehicle brand new in 2019. The mechanic I have repairing this vehicle reports this is a manufacturing issue. This is a dangerous issues and this vehicle should be recalled. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

When turning to the right, around 35-45mph on a sharp turn, the steering will stick. Yesterday the sticking was so bad it almost caused me to lose control in the middle of the curb. It does not stick when taking sharp turns to the left. The mechanic has not been able to locate the issue.

The steering wheel sticks in a slight right turn around the 1 o'clock position. I have not felt it on left turns. There is no noise, scraping, or grinding. There is one slight right bend in the road on my way home and it consistently does the stick thing as I straighten out the wheel. I've searched and found many references to the same problem. I know NHTSA has started an investigation on this for Pacificas made in other yrs.

The contact owns a 2018 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated while driving at undisclosed low speeds, the electric power steering stopped functioning properly after the contact heard an abnormal crunching sound coming from the front end of the vehicle. The contact also stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle briefly jerked and jolted during acceleration as if the transmission was slamming into gear. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for regular maintenance service, and the contact was informed that the motor mounts needed to be replaced. The vehicle failures were not diagnosed during regular maintenance service. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 121,000.

We purchased our 2024 Pacifica pinnacle awd new in July of 2024. The vehicle currently has 9,600 miles on it, and the issue has been present since it was new. We have experienced continuous issues while driving the vehicle at highway speeds, with the steering exhibiting a gap in responsiveness. The steering acts like there is a dead zone between 11 and 1 o'clock when turning the wheel, where nothing happens. Once the vehicle finally reacts to the driver's inputs, it causes the car to jerk from side to side. It is bad enough that it causes my entire family to become carsick during even short trips. Still, my primary concern is that the steering is not responsive, and if the issue worsens or changes, it could lead to a loss of control over the vehicle. In addition, the jerking caused by this may cause loss of control when traveling in inclement weather or icy conditions. We took the vehicle in for diagnosis, assuming an alignment issue, but the dealership verified the alignment was within the manufacturer's requirements. In addition, the dealership told us, "this is just how the Pacifica drives. All of them have this issue with the steering". Today, I came across an investigation into a similar issue with older model Pacificas, and I believe this is not only the same issue but also warrants investigation of all model year Pacificas. There were multiple comments within the forum post of owners experiencing this issue in newer vehicles than the current investigation. Please consider expanding your investigation to all model years. Thank you.

See all problems of the 2024 Chrysler Pacifica 🔎.

Steering has jerking sensation at higher speeds going around turns. Causing me to almost overcorrect. Safety of my children involved.

When turning the steering wheel it will feel like it gets stuck for a split seconds. It happens alot.

When driving in longer, gradual curves - the steering wheel "sticks". You can feel it isnt responsive, and you have to apply more pressure than you should to get it out of the "stuck" spot. Which makes the car over correct at times. It has happened dozens of times by now - so wasnt a one time thing. Most recent was a last night.

While turning, my steering wheel will get stuck, sometimes causing me to over correct while trying to fix it. It has been happening for quite some time and seems to be an ongoing issue. It typically occurs when I'm going around a curve, not when I'm doing a complete turn. I am afraid this could cause an accident at some point.

The vehicle will randomly shut itself off while it is operating causing the dashboard to flicker on and off before shutting down fully. The steering wheel gets stuck at the 1:00 position.

Report is related to the probe into a sticking sensation on gradual turns. Particularly when at the 1 and 11 o clock position.

The steering sticks when when turning in curve left and right turns causing me to sometimes over correct.

The steering on my 2017 Chrysler pacific sticks at the 11 and 1 position. It cause us over steer while driving down the road or on the interstate. It is very scary.

Mine has a looseness feeling yet on inspection everything like tie rod ends are good. Definitely at the 11 o clock position I can get a shudder or shimmy even at low speeds. Despite it feeling loose it’s tracking excellent on the highway like everything is tight. I also get a rattle like the tie rods are loose at speeds below 30. There is no looseness anywhere on inspection. If the wheel is shaken on a drive on lift you can feel the noise in the rack mostly on the left side. Happens every day.

Often when making a gradual turn such as exiting an interstate onto the off ramp, the steering wheel will stick/lock at the 3 o clock position. This requires considerable force to return the wheel to the 12 o clock and straight position. I took it into the dealership and they found nothing wrong but it seems like an issue with the steering rack. I've heard numerous reports of others encountering this as well and I want it to be known this is a common issue. There is no grinding, scraping or noise indicating something is broken but seems to be a manufacturing defect. It is extremely dangerous and can sometimes be rather difficult to correct the wheel.